[Email - To: All]
Have reasons to believe that lots of people haven't been receiving my emails, so I'll put everybody's email address in the "To:" slot from now on, instead of "Blind Cc:", because I think it's all to do with junk mail filters and suchlike. I have most of the other emails, so I can send them again if anyone wants me to.
Just visited one of the other placement villages (Kibebe) for Easter, so in Iringa tonight, waiting for 24 hours for the next bus back home - bit fo a pain as I'm a bit short of cash and getting access to my money is impossible at holiday time.
Got to Iringa Friday morning and went straight to Hasty Tasty's for a well-deserved fry-up and hoping to meet other people. A little later Min turned up, who is placed in Kibebe, and she was ill again, and quite unhappy on placement, so spent much of the day cheering her up. Found out I've got a parcel (my first one!!!) waiting for me at the office, but it's all locked up at the moment so I've got to wait until tomorrow.
Got the daladala through Kibebe and on to Makongati in the afternoon, to go and stay with Lauren (the Aussie) and Lize that night - It's very beautiful there but couldn't really appreciate it as it was getting dark by the time I arrived and it was misty in the morning when we left. However, did fully appreciate the delights of Australian Cadury's chocolate, which tastes so much nicer than the Kenyan and South African crap they trade in our here - I'd forgotten what real chocolate tastes like!
The daladala you have to catch to get to Kibebe and Makongati can only be described as a sardines tin with wheels. Managed to get a seat on Friday pm, but I can't help wondering if I'd have been better standing up. I was on the seat next to the door, lots of people standing to my left (at least 5 of whome were hanging onto the outside of the minibus), a couple of kids sat on the engine infront of me, an old dear and a couple of other women sat on the seat to my right, and some bread and bananas on my lap. Words cannot describe the sensations pulsating through my body for two whole hours as everybody stood next to me leaned over me and pressed against me, while I fought the pressure by holding onto the handrail above the door to my left, desperately trying to prevent the premature death by suffocation of the poor lady sat to my right. This, however, was a mere picnic to subsequent adventures on the same bus.
We passed through Kibebe, where I spent most of the weekend, and reached the far edge of the village, where we encountered a large truck, facing not along the road, but perpendicular to it. Its front wheels were in the ditch to the left, its back wheels in the maize fields to our right, and its load appeared to consist of a solitary bicycle. It quickly became apparent that the driver of this goods vehicle had attempted to turn around using the width of the road, even though there was no width in which to turn.
Several people got out to help, and started digging the ditch to make it shallower so that the lorry could drive forward a little and then return to an alignment more compatible with that of the road. Then the driver would get in his cabin, and attempt to drive off, only to fail and for the digging to continue again. This cycle continued for 4 or 5 repetitions, until finally the lorry could drive away ahead of us.
Unfortunately, I'm running out of time, so I might continue this story later (I haven't even told you about the invisible hippo yet)...
Phil :)
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